School of Biomedical Sciences

School of Biomedical Sciences students and postdoctoral scientists earned awards for the research at 2024 Research Appreciation Day at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth.

RAD is an institutional tradition encompassing medicine, public health and basic science. The program provides an opportunity for students, faculty and staff to share their research efforts with the campus community and the public. The program encourages the development of joint research projects and increases the community’s awareness of the outstanding quality and range of research conducted at HSC.

Oral Presentation Award

• First Place: Jennifer Pham, Enhanced Protection of Retinal Ganglion Cells against Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury and Neurotrophic Factor Deprivation with Compound SA-10
• Second Place: Payal Ranade, Elucidating the role of MIEN1 in colorectal cancer metastasis

Postdoctoral Oral Presentation

• Amit Tripathi: First-in-class Peptide Molecules Targeting the MIEN1 Cancer signaling Pathway for which no inhibitors are currently identified

Postdoctoral Poster Presentation

• Pinkal D. Patel: Phenotypic and transcriptomic comparison of genetically distinct mouse strains for susceptibility to glucocorticoid-induced ocular hypertension (GC-OHT)

North Texas Eye Research Institute Graduate Student Award

• First Place: Gretchen Johnson, CREB Activation by Mini-Chaperone CPP-P1 Enhances Retinal Ganglion Cell Survival in an Acute Glaucoma Model
• Second Place: R. Max Petty, Assessment of WIN 55,212-2 Loaded Reconstituted High-Density Lipoprotein Nanoparticles for Ocular Delivery

Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Genetic (Biochemistry and Cancer Biology) Award

• First Place: Christoffer Lambring, Targeting Sp1 in Ewing Sarcoma: A multi-approach method for the utilization of Mithramycin
• Second Place: Ammar Kapic, Neuroprotective Effects of DHED Eyedrops Protects Visual Function Despite Elevated IOP in an Ocular Hypertension Animal Model

Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Genetic (Cell Biology, Immunology & Microbiology) Award

• First Place: Jamie Choe, Assessing Changes to the Lower GI Tract Microbiome in Response to Neglect-related Early Life Stress Exposure
• Second Place: Tamara Hoteit, High expression of N-acetyl transferase 9 in cholangiocarcinoma and its possible role in tumor progression

Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Genetic (Genetics) Award

• First Place: Kumudu Subasinghe, Longitudinal microRNA profiling of neuronal-enriched exosomes associated with cognitive function and decline
• Second Place: Katherine McBroom, Taking the Bait: Utilization of Probe-Capture Enrichment in Human Remains Identification

Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience (Pharmaceutical Sciences & Pharmacotherapy Award)

• First Place: Giacomo Spano, Contact angle, a potential screening tool for anticancer drug delivery systems and breast cancer tumor tissues.
• Second Place: Meredith Garrett, Preclinical Characterization of Novel Drug Candidates for Ocular Drug Delivery

Department of Pharmacology & Neuroscience (Pharmacology & Neuroscience) Award

• First Place: Steve Mabry, Sex-dependent effects of chronic intermittent hypoxia: Implication for obstructive sleep apnea
• Second Place: Nana Kofi Kusi-Boadum, Impact of nicotine’s autonomic effect on nicotine’s discriminative stimulus

Department of Physiology & Anatomy (Integrative Physiology) Award

• First Place: Lindsey Hudson, Interactions Between Carotid Arterial Stiffness, Amplitude of Cerebral Blood Flow Oscillations, and Cerebral Tissue Oxygenation During Simulated Hemorrhage in Humans
• Second Place: Cephas Appiah, Assessment of Neuroinflammation in Cognitive and Motor Brain Regions in Female Rats Exposed to Chronic Intermittent Hypoxia

Department of Physiology & Anatomy (Structural Anatomy & Rehabilitation Sciences) Award

• First Place: Caroline Counts, Evaluating philtrum-to-tragus distance as an external predictor of nasal passage dimensions: A computed tomography (CT) approach
• Second Place: Baonhu Tran, Every breath you take: Experimentally investigating respiratory responses to hot environments

Medical Student Government Association Best of DO/PhD Dual Degree Students

• Jamie Choe, Assessing Changes to the Lower GI Tract Microbiome in Response to Neglect-related Early Life Stress Exposure